-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A temporary truce Saturday between Israel and Hamas provided a precious few hours for hundreds of people , who had fled the fighting , the opportunity to learn whether they had a home to return to in Gaza .

Some would use the time to collect belongings from their homes and the bodies of loved ones who were killed in the weeks-old conflict . For others , there was nothing to do except pick through rubble and debris .

During the 12-hour humanitarian cease-fire , a CNN crew traveled to two Gaza neighborhoods -- Shujaya and Beit Hanoun -- hit hard by the fighting .

Here , in their own words , is what they saw :

From Salma Abdelaziz : Losing a home

An elderly woman struggles to scale a mound of rubble and twisted metal .

`` Did you see my house ? What happened to it ? '' she asks a neighbor who crosses her path .

`` It 's all gone , '' he responds . `` There is nothing left ''

The two appear small standing amid the massive mounds of debris in Gaza 's Beit Hanoun district , where they quietly and calmly converse about the destruction of home after home in their neighborhood .

`` Are you sure ? What about my niece 's house ? '' the women asks .

`` It 's demolished . The whole area is demolished . '' the man says .

Around them , others assess the damage -- in whispered conversations . There is no wailing or screaming from anyone over what was lost .

This is the third conflict in six years for the people of this tiny coastal strip . The people in the neighborhood are calm , almost methodical , in their approach to war and its consequences .

From Ian Lee : Choosing what to save

A family of five stands next to their front door , the only piece of their home in Gaza 's Shujaya neighborhood that remains intact .

The building 's cinder blocks have been split in half . Shrapnel has peppered the building 's exterior . The damage is just too extensive and is unlikely to be repaired .

But there is no time to mourn . The family is fighting against the cease-fire clock , with only a few hours to gather what belongings they can salvage from the rubble .

`` We did n't expect this . Everything is destroyed , '' one family member told CNN . `` We are looking for whatever we can carry before heading back to a UN-run shelter . ''

Despite the extensive damage to their home , they say they feel lucky compared to their neighbor . Just a few feet away , a massive crater marks the spot where their neighbor 's home once stood .

There is nobody there to gather belongings left behind . Nothing is left .

From Karl Penhaul : Proof of a life

Wooden doors were blown off their hinges . Through the gap , I could pick out Mohammed Al-Zaneen tip-toeing through the debris of his three-story home in Gaza 's Beit Hanoun neighborhood .

He gently plucked a framed photo from a wall . It was a picture of his grandfather Said Al-Zaneen , the patriarch of Al-Zaneen 's sprawling family . The old man died long ago . But Al-Zaneen appears intent on rescuing his grandfather 's memory .

Then the rubble gave up another treasure , a green plastic folder . As Mohammed sifted through it , he discovered the family 's birth certificates and school diplomas .

For a people caught in the midst of a brutal war , Al-Zaneen , like so many other civilians in Gaza , is desperate to find any scrap of paper that proves he still exists .

From Joe Sheffer : Through the lens

Peering through my lens , I see the vista of the Gaza neighborhood of Beit Hanoun : the anarchy , the rubbish , the empty shell casings and the lingering smoke .

The scene is one of displaced families , and a strange sense of calm , as they collect whatever fragments of their lives they could salvage .

Then , through the lens , there appears an almost timeless scene -- three women clutching their few possessions , walking through the smoke that pours from gutted buildings .

They are followed down the rubble-strewn road by a man who is leading a horse . A foal apprehensively trails the procession , being lead to safety from the inferno .

Through the seemingly never-ending rubble , across the power lines that bisect the road and the stench of rot , this small quiet procession of will marches before me . The image seems almost biblical , if it was n't so clearly a vignette of modern warfare .

From Abdelaziz : The rubbish of war

A young boy in a yellow shirt carries a plastic bag and walks indifferently through the ruins of Beit Hanoun neighborhood in a pair of dusty black flip-flops .

His relatives walk alongside , carrying a few possessions bundled in bed sheets and balanced on their heads .

He stops for a moment in front of me , stares me straight in the eyes , and -- without uttering a single word -- throws a handful of machine gun ammunition casings at my feet .

My eyes follow him as he walks away , almost begging him to speak .

But his message is clear to me : He has no room for the rubbish of this war .

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Gaza residents returned to their neighborhoods during a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas

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`` We did n't expect this . Everything is destroyed , '' one resident says

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Some carry their belongings away in bed sheets or on their heads